There is corruption at all levels of government - US report

A report by the United States has revealed that there is corruption at all levels of government in Nigeria. The report notes that the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors are given immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.

Legit.ng gathers that the report focused on the number of convictions the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have secured.

Below is the report:

Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government

Although the law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security services. The constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office. There were numerous reports of government corruption during the year.

Corruption: The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) holds broad authorities to prosecute most forms of corruption. The EFCC writ extends only to financial and economic crimes. The ICPC secured 14 convictions during the year. In 2016 the EFCC had 66 corruption cases pending in court, had secured 13 convictions during the year, and had 598 open investigations.

Although ICPC and EFCC anti-corruption efforts remained largely focused on low- and mid-level government officials, following the 2015 presidential election both organizations started investigations into and brought indictments against various active and former high-level government officials. Many of these cases were pending in court. According to both ICPC and EFCC, the delays were the result of a lack of judges and the widespread practice of filing for and granting multiple adjournments.

EFCC arrests and indictments of politicians continued throughout the year, implicating a significant number of opposition political figures and leading to allegations of partisan motivations on the part of the EFCC. In October the EFCC arrested and indicted former governor of Ekiti State Ayo Fayose on 11 counts including conspiracy and money laundering amounting to 2.2 billion naira ($6 million). After a Federal High Court ruling, Fayose was out on 50 million naira ($137,500) bail.

Financial Disclosure: The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act (CCBTA) requires public officials--including the president, vice president, governors, deputy governors, cabinet ministers, and legislators (at both federal and state levels)--to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) before assuming and after leaving office. The constitution calls for the CCB to “make declarations available for inspection by any citizen of the country on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe.” The law does not address the publication of asset information. Violators risk prosecution, but cases rarely reached conclusion.

In 2015 the CCB brought charges before the Code of Conduct Tribunal--a court created by the CCBTA to try violations of that act--against Senate President Bukola Saraki for false declaration of assets. In June 2017 the tribunal dismissed all 18 charges against Saraki for lack of evidence. The government appealed and, in December 2017 the federal Court of Appeal affirmed the CCT’s dismissal with respect to 15 counts, but determined there was sufficient evidence to proceed on three counts. Saraki appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the June 2017 decision of the CCT dismissing all charges.